Spirited
by rothfyae
Summary: AU. Twenty-five spirits were released when Orochimaru's last experiment misfired. Some of those spirits were good and some were not. They decided to use some of our favorite characters as their vessels. Jiraiya and Tsunade are tasked with tracking them down. They now have to deal with taking care of and training a bunch of spirited, super-powered kids.
1. The First Spirits

**Welcome to my newest project, ****_Spirited_****. I don't know how long it will last or where exactly it'll go. If I manage to stick with it, the characters will dictate how the story will go. Of course, a little encouragement couldn't hurt :)**

**It should be noted that the universe this story takes place in has no chakra. There are no ninja abilities. There is technology, but there are no guns. Guns would make it too easy to kill people. Therefore everyone does had to do battle with other weapons- high-tech swords, bows and arrows, and other things.**

**Here is the full summary:**

**AU. Twenty-five spirits were released after Orochimaru's last experiment misfired. Some of those spirits were good and some were not. They sought out vessels so that they could be active in the human world, the good spirits planning to help it and the evil ones plotting to take over it.**

**Jiraiya and Tsunade, under their superior's orders, are tasked with tracking down those vessels and training them to fight for Konoha. If only it was that easy… They now have to deal with the bunch of super-powered kids that they found, as well as with the ones they didn't. And those kids are a spirited bunch- literally.**

**My universal disclaimer is found on my profile, but it goes something like this- if I owned any of these base stories, I wouldn't need Fanfiction. I'd make money. Because I'm writing on Fanfiction, it can be assumed that I don't own any of the base stories.**

**I think that's all you should know for now. Enjoy!**

* * *

Twenty-five year old Tsunade Senju and her dear friend Jiraiya were having trying to have a drink to temporarily alleviate the stress of being two of the three greatest (not to mention youngest) generals of all time. Their beloved country Konoha was at war with pretty much every smaller country that existed. Requests for aid had been sent to the Suna, Iwa, Kumo, and Kiri, the other countries that made up what had been dubbed as 'The Big Five Alliance', but it took time for messages to be sent by hand. The messages would have been sent out electronically had Ame, one of the attacking countries, not developed a seemingly flawless technology that jammed all long-range transmissions, as well as some close-range ones as well. Help would come eventually, provided that the messengers weren't intercepted.

"Come on, bartender," Jiraiya complained, "I telling ya we're both of age. Do we really have to show you our IDs?"

"Look, there's a lot of people trying to drown their sorrows these days," the bartender said. "Don't want to be the guy that gets in trouble because a couple of kids snuck through, got drunk, and spread the new."

Jiraiya scowled. "Fine," he grumbled as he reached for his wallet. Tsunade did as well. They showed the man their IDs. He nodded and motioned for them to sit down.

"What'll it be?" he asked.

"A nice beer for me," Jiraiya said.

"And for you?" the man asked Tsunade.

"Sake," she said.

"Anything to eat?"

Jiraiya glanced at Tsunade. She shook her head. "We're fine," he said. "Only got so much money and we wanna spend it on the right stuff."

"Hear, hear," a man sitting next to them said.

Tsunade drummed her fingers on the counter. "Too bad Orochimaru wouldn't come out with us," she said.

"You know the man," Jiraiya said. "He's dedicated to his work. What'd he say he was doing this time?"

"Something about forcing tiny wormholes for instant transportation," Tsunade said.

"Does it make any sense to you?" Jiraiya asked.

"Nope," Tsunade said. "Gimme a dying person and I'll fix him up as best I can. Gimme physics, numbers, and theories and I'm lost."

"Heh," Jiraiya said. "Gimme anything other than fighting, strategy, and my vivid imagination, and I'll leave the rest up to you two."

"I guess that's why we're the three best that Konoha has to offer," Tsunade said as the bartender placed her sake in front of her. "We take care of each other's weaknesses and kill all opposition."

"Let's just hope that we're enough," Jiraiya said darkly. He glanced at the TV. Turning to the people next to him, he asked, "Anyone got anything against changing the channel? I mean, most of us came here to drown our sorrows. Let's not listen to the news."

A murmur of agreement rippled through the bar, and the bartender switched the channel to reruns of some inappropriate comedy. Tsunade rolled her eyes and tried not to laugh at some of the S-rank jokes and references while the men around her roared and drank. Suddenly her phone rang.

"Tsunade Senju," she said.

"Orochimaru. I'm *cough* having a lab malfunction. Kabuto's down *cough*. Need help-"

"Hang tight," Tsunade said as she slapped some bills down on the counter and grabbed Jiraiya. "We'll be right there." Turning to the bartender, she said, "If it's not enough, we'll pay you back next time."

"Tsunade? What the heck?" Jiraiya asked as his ridiculously strong friend dragged him out.

"Orochimaru needs help. Something's wrong," she said as she shoved Jiraiya into the passenger seat of his car. "Keys?"

"Why are you driving?" Jiraiya asked as he handed her his car keys.

"You were on your third beer and I only had half a glass of sake," Tsunade said as she started the car and pulled out.

"What sort of trouble did Oro say he was in?" Jiraiya asked, rubbing his eyes.

"Dunno, he didn't say," Tsunade said. "His little assistant was down and he didn't sound too good."

"Great," Jiraiya muttered. "He probably blew himself up by messing with space or whatever he was doing."

"I honestly don't want to know," Tsunade said as she narrowly missed running a red light. "He sounded pretty anxious, and you know how emotional that guy is."

Jiraiya nodded. "Man, I hope he's ok. We need him, and his hypothesis on making wormholes could prove invaluable to us," he said before shouting at her to stop driving at a hundred miles per hour.

* * *

The second Tsunade and Jiraiya got out of the car, a sense of foreboding overwhelmed them.

"Ugh…I'm not the superstitious type, but if I was, I'd say that I felt like something like a really powerful spirit was surrounding this place," Jiraiya said.

"Good thing we're both not superstitious," Tsunade said. "Let's go."

Orochimaru's facility looked like something had blown up inside. The electronic lock on the door was broken, so Jiraiya kicked it in to gain access. Once they were in, a wave of smoke washed over them. Cursing, Jiraiya and Tsunade both pulled out little emergency gas masks and continued to the basement where their friend and comrade preferred to work.

Jiraiya kicked down the door and gaped. "Holy [insert S-rank word here], it's like something straight out of a sci-fi movie!"

"Good lord," Tsunade murmured. In the middle of Orochimaru's laboratory was a black _thing_ that was about the width and height of two normal doors side by side. It looked flat, and the edges rippled. "Orochimaru?" Her voice was muffled by her gas mask.

"Come on," Jiraiya said. He ran down the stairs that led to the main work area, and Tsunade followed.

Orochimaru lay on his side with his head down. His cell phone was still in his hand. "Damn," Jiraiya muttered. "Oro, pal, wake up."

"Don't move him," Tsunade ordered. "Where's his lab assistant?" While Jiraiya pushed around overturned tables, Tsunade crouch next to her friend and carefully felt his neck. "A pulse and no neck damage. Good." She rolled him over. "Oro? Can you hear me?"

Her friend coughed. "Messed with something I didn't understand," he choked out. "Spirit. Don't know how many I let out. They possessed Kabuto. Said it was the guardian and that I'd breached the barrier between our world and the spirit world. Sucked the life out of Kabuto to keep more from crossing, and said another life was needed to close the breach."

"I found the assistant," Jiraiya called. "He's dead. Can't tell from what. He's not too banged up." He walked over to Tsunade. "Wow, you don't look too good. What the hell is that thing?"

"Tell him later," Orochimaru told Tsunade. "Get me through."

"What?" Jiraiya asked. "Whoa, buddy. We don't know where that thing goes."

"The spirits," Orochimaru said. "The guardian said they'll seek out vessels." He coughed. "Don't know how long it'll take." He tried to get up. Jiraiya and Tsunade helped him.

"Where too?" Jiraiya asked. Orochimaru motioned with his head toward the blackness. Jiraiya and Tsunade helped him over.

"Careful now," Tsunade said. "We don't know what it does."

"Thank you," Orochimaru said before coughing again. "I'm sorry." And he wrenched himself from his two friends' grasps and threw himself at the blackness. Jiraiya and Tsunade shouted in surprise and horror as a purple light ripped itself from Orochimaru and disappeared into the blackness. The moment the purple light touched the blackness, the whole thing spiraled in on itself and disappeared. Orochimaru fell. Tsunade felt his neck.

"He's dead," she whispered.

"How? What was that?" Jiraiya asked.

"Spirits. He wasn't crazy," Tsunade whispered.

"What are you talking about?"

"He was experimenting with wormholes, and somehow he ripped a hole in the wrong dimension. Some kind of guard spirit possessed Kabuto. He said that it was the spirit dimension, and that some escaped. Kabuto's life was taken to keep more from escaping, and to close the rip, someone else's life had to be taken."

"So he sacrificed himself," Jiraiya said.

"Well, it's not like he was going to use us," Tsunade said.

"So why call us?" Jiraiya asked. Tsunade shot him a look. "Ah. To tell us. And he said something about the escaped spirits possessing people. What are we gonna do about that?"

"I don't know. Let's get out of here," Tsunade said.

"What are we gonna tell 'em? I mean, they didn't get to see Oro's life get sucked out of his body," Jiraiya said as he looked over the two dead bodies.

"Lab accident. Explosion. Hang on. Break Kabuto's neck," Tsunade said. Jiraiya gaped at her. "You said he didn't look banged up. If smoke inhalation didn't kill him, whatever explosion that happened to cause all this damage did."

"And Oro?" Jiraiya asked.

"He's inhaled enough smoke," Tsunade said. "And I don't think either of us could."

Jiraiya nodded and as tactfully as possible broke Kabuto's neck in such a way that it looked like he'd been thrown against the cement wall. "Let's leave them. The fire department should be here soon, if they weren't already all deployed due to other emergencies." Tsunade nodded sadly.

Tsunade and Jiraiya's report said that Orochimaru's wormhole experiments misfired and released a devastating explosion, and that the laboratory had been on fire and too ruined to get in.

* * *

Ten years later, Jiraiya and Tsunade witnessed Jiraiya's student, Minato Namikaze, and his wife fighting desperately to stop what had to be a spirit from attacking their newborn child.

"Minato, you idiot, get your wife and kid away from here!" Jiraiya shouted. "You don't know what you're dealing with!"

"What is it?" Minato asked as he shoved his wife out of the way of the strange orange fox-like _thing_ that seemed to be after his wife and their baby.

Even though she was exhausted from bearing their child less than twenty-four hours ago, Kushina Namikaze, nee Uzumaki, said, "Minato, I was _raised_ on this. That thing is a spirit, and it's trying to possess our child!"

"Spirits exist?" Minato asked.

"Yes, but I don't know how they got through the barrier. There were no breaches that my family picked up," Kushina said as she dodged as best she could the great orange mass of energy that was after their little boy.

Jiraiya and Tsunade looked at each other. "Actually," Jiraiya bellowed over the roar of the giant energy mass, "There was one."

"What?! How did my family not know?" Kushina shrieked as Minato shoved her one way before darting another way.

"Orochimaru's last experiment," Tsunade hollered. "He was experimenting with wormholes."

"Oh no…don't tell me…" Kushina gasped. Seeing Jiraiya and Tsunade's looks, her expression darkened. "Why am I hearing about this ten years later?"

"Didn't realize your family knew about spirits," Jiraiya as he yanked Minato away from his wife just before a giant orange claw of energy obliterated the spot he'd been before.

"Excuse me for not wanting everyone to think my family is full of loons," Kushina said. "Well, now I know it's definitely a spirit. Keep it busy."

"Wait- what are you doing?!" Minato eyes widened as Kushina placed their baby on the ground.

"It takes life energy to control a spirit," she said. "I'm sorry Jiraiya, Tsunade, Minato, Naruto. This is for you!" Kushina extended her arms out wide. Red light flew from her body and wrapped around the gigantic orange mass. Then she slammed her hands together over little baby Naruto. The red light yanked the great orange fox thing down into Naruto, who wailed. When the orange spirit was gone, Kushina collapsed over Naruto. Minato ran to her side.

"Kushina! Kushina!" he gasped. "Kushina, no!"

"Minato, I'm sorry," she whispered. "It was to protect our son. Please, love him and make sure he grows up strong."

Minato broke down sobbing, clutching his dead wife to his chest. Baby Naruto shrieked even louder.

Jiraiya and Tsunade watched helplessly, unable to do anything. "Minato-" Jiraiya knelt at his student's side and placed a hand on his shoulder. Tsunade picked up Naruto and gently rocked him. Suddenly she felt something. She looked at Jiraiya.

"I feel it too," he said. "It's like the other one- just less destructive."

"Who are you? Show yourself!" Minato demanded, wiping the tears from his eyes. A pearl-colored butterfly appeared in front of them. "What are you?" Minato asked. "Are you another one of those spirits, come to torment us?"

"I am the spirit of Peace," the butterfly said. "I can bring you rest and balance the spirit of Hate that your wife sealed into her son with her last breath."

Without hesitation, Minato said, "Do it."

"Now, Minato," Jiraiya said. "Think about this. Is this what Kushina would want you to do? To throw your life away?"

"That thing she sealed was the spirit of Hate," Minato said. "Now that I think about it, I could feel it. I don't want my baby to have hate sealed inside him forever."

"Who will raise him?" Jiraiya asked.

"You," Minato said. "Tell him about us. Tell him how much we love him, and tell him that we'll watch over him from the next place."

"Do you believe that spirit?" Tsunade asked.

"Spirits can't lie," Minato said. Then he hesitated. "I don't know how I knew that." He blinked. "Kushina. I have to do this."

"You don't _have _to do anything," Jiraiya said. "Why you?"

"I'm his father," Minato said. "And you two are Commander Sarutobi's top generals. Konoha can't lose you."

"Minato-" Tsunade tried.

"No. I love you all too much to let you do this," Minato said. He turned to the pearly butterfly. "Do it." And the butterfly flew to him and landed on his chest. Then it flew and landed on Naruto and disappeared. Naruto, who had been wailing non-stop since his mother sealed the Hate spirit in him, stopped. Minato fell to his knees. "Take care of my little Naruto," he managed to say before closing his eyes.

Jiraiya didn't try to hide his tears as the student that he regarded as his son died in his arms. Tsunade bowed her head and let her tears fall as well. They stood in silence for a few minutes.

Then Jiraiya stood. It was time to get back to business.

"What are we supposed to tell everyone?" Tsunade asked.

"I don't know," Jiraiya said finally. "We'll have to explain the destruction and how Minato and Kushina are both dead without a deadly hit on them."

"I'm thinking we may have to be honest with Commander Sarutobi this time," Tsunade said. "I can't think of anything that could cover this amount of damage up."

And so they did. They told the truth about Orochimaru's death and about what he said the guard spirit had told him when it possessed Kabuto. Then they told him what had happened that night. Their commander took the truth very well.

"Do you know how many of those spirits escaped?" he asked.

"No," Jiraiya said as Tsunade rocked baby Naruto gently in her arms.

"This is not good," Commander Sarutobi said. "The damage that single spirit caused was huge. If the enemy got its hands on even one, the tide of this war could change drastically."

Jiraiya and Tsunade both nodded gravely. Then Naruto glowed pearly white. The three adults stared as the pearl-colored butterfly of energy reappeared.

"Greetings, leader of these humans," it said. "I am the spirit of Peace. I know how many of us crossed the barrier that evening."

Their commander recovered his composure quickly. "How many?" he asked.

"Twenty-five," the butterfly said.

Jiraiya and Tsunade shared a distressed look. _Twenty-five_ of those potentially destructive _things_? "Do you know which ones they were?" Tsunade asked.

"Yes," the butterfly said.

"Will you tell us?" Jiraiya asked hopefully.

"Yes," the butterfly said. "I am Peace, and Hate is sealed inside this boy. Along with us came the seasons Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter; the elements Air, Earth, Fire, and Water; the Sun, Moon, and Stars along with Wild; Wisdom and Intelligence; Beauty and Happiness; Pain and Illness; Wrath and Destruction; and Lust, Envy, and Greed."

Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Commander Sarutobi were silent. Finally Tsunade asked, "How many of those are destructive?"

"Destruction, Wrath, and Illness for sure," the butterfly Peace said. "Lust, Envy, Greed, and Pain most likely. The seasons, perhaps. Wild is very unpredictable, as well as the elements. Sun, Moon, and Stars mind their own business, as well as Intelligence and Beauty. Wisdom is harmless, as well as Happiness."

"And you?" Commander Sarutobi asked.

"I am Peace," the Peace butterfly said.

"What should we do about the other spirits?" Jiraiya asked.

"They will seek a vessel if they have not found one already," Peace said.

"Can we tell these vessels apart from other people?" Tsunade asked.

"The vessels have power," Peace said. "I can linger no more. Hate grows restless and I must bind it." And the Peace butterfly disappeared.

Commander Sarutobi stroked his beard. "Jiraiya, Tsunade, you two have a new mission. You will move to the position of advisors. That will be a cover for you two disappearing from the front lines. In reality, you will find these vessels. Hopefully the Peace spirit will aid you. Gather the vessels and raise them to fight for the Alliance."

"We will be making war machines out of children," Tsunade said.

"We cannot afford to allow our enemies do so against us," Commander Sarutobi said.

Tsunade chewed her lip distastefully, but finally bowed her head. "Yes, sir."

"Yes, sir," Jiraiya echoed.

"Good. Then from this point on, you two are my advisors. I'll tell Fugaku and Hiashi that they've been promoted. Your mission starts now."

* * *

**And so ends the first chapter of ****_Spirited_****. Were the Sannin cool? Was it nice to see Orochimaru not characterized as a creepy pedophile? Were Minato and Kushina ok for the little bit of 'screen time' they got? Yes, the Uzumaki's know about the spirits. In this universe, think of them as the spirit experts instead of the fuinjutsu/sealing experts. Is the Peace butterfly weird? And please give me your feedback!**

**Also, can you guess which spirit will go with which character? If you came to this story when it wasn't new, feel free to guess anyway. Just don't cheat and peek ahead!**

**The spirit vessels are**

**Choji**

**Deidara**

**Gaara**

**Hidan**

**Hinata**

**Ino**

**Itachi**

**Kakuzu**

**Kankuro**

**Kiba**

**Kisame**

**Konan**

***Naruto*-said in chapter**

**Neji**

**Pein**

**Rock Lee**

**Sakura**

**Sasori**

**Sasuke**

**Shikamaru**

**Shino**

**Temari**

**TenTen**

**Tobi**

**Sorry, Zetsu fans. And just so you don't have to scroll up, the spirits are:**

**Air**

**Autumn**

**Beauty**

**Destruction**

**Earth**

**Envy**

**Fire**

**Greed**

**Happiness**

***Hate*-said in chapter**

**Illness**

**Intelligence**

**Lust**

**Moon**

**Pain**

***Peace*-said in chapter**

**Spring**

**Stars**

**Summer**

**Sun**

**Water**

**Wild**

**Winter**

**Wisdom**

** Wrath**

**Naruto is the only one with two spirits. Some of the human-spirit pairings are obvious and some are not. BTW Hate is Kurama/Kyubi. I'll wait a few days before posting the next chapter to let the guesses roll in. **

**And that concludes this long author's note. Have fun. And, just some shameless self-advertising, if you're not too busy, feel free to check out my other stories.**


	2. The Uchiha Spirits

**Here is the next chapter of ****_Spirited_****. It takes place two months after where last chapter left off. As for a disclaimer, refer to the first chapter or to my profile. I think that's all you need to know for now. Enjoy.**

* * *

Jiraiya and Tsunade entered Commander Sarutobi's office. Tsunade carried two-month old Naruto. "You called for us, Commander?" Jiraiya asked.

"Yes," the commander said. "I think I may have found the first three vessels for you."

"What?!" Jiraiya's eyes widened. Then he noticed Fugaku Uchiha, his wife Mikoto, their two sons, and their ward. "Oh man…"

Fugaku glanced at the commander, who nodded. "From birth my children have been…curious. Itachi here is five. He's often seems to be in ill. My wife and I have brought him to countless doctors, but none of them can find anything wrong with him. Itachi describes it like a fever- sometimes he's too hot, sometimes, he's too cold, and sometimes he just aches all over. Whenever we take his temperature, though, it is normal. The only times he says that he doesn't feel ill is when he's in danger." Fugaku paused to see how Jiraiya and Tsunade were taking this.

Tsunade looked at the boy being spoken of. He didn't look ill at all. In fact, the only thing off about him was the two diagonal scars that cut across his young face. Tsunade asked him, "What happened to your face?"

Itachi looked up at her. "I was with Mommy, but then I got separated. Then the alarm that signals the explosions went off, and I ran. I was in the dark spot between buildings, when a man tried to kill me. He cut me and was going to kill me, but then I stopped feeling ill and he was."

Tsunade blinked. "You mean that you made him sick?"

"No," Itachi said. "I made him burn. Or at least that's what he said."

"And then what did you do?" Tsunade asked.

"I ran again, and any time someone tried to hurt me, they acted like they were hurt. And I didn't feel sick at all," Itachi said.

"Hm…" Tsunade looked at Jiraiya. "Which one do you think it is?" Jiraiya shrugged.

"Sasuke can talk to animals," Itachi said.

"Huh?" Jiraiya looked down at the boy. "Say that again."

"Sasuke can talk animals," Itachi said. "Plants too, I think."

"…Well," Tsunade said. "Does your other brother do anything strange?"

"Cousin Tobi is always happy," Itachi said. "And he can make Daddy smile. No one ever can make Daddy smile the way he does when Tobi is close, not even Mommy." Fugaku hn-ed in what seemed to be protest. "But it's true, Daddy," Itachi said. "Tobi is special, even if everyone says he's dumb."

"Thank you, Itachi," Tsunade said, smiling. "That was very helpful." She stood, realizing that she'd unconsciously knelt down to little Itachi's height to talk with him. "Mr. Uchiha? What say you about your youngest?"

"I've never seen him communicate with plants or animals, but Itachi isn't the type of child to lie," Fugaku said.

"Mrs. Uchiha?" Tsunade asked.

"I saw Sasuke playing with some birds that were sitting on our window sill," she said. "I'm not sure if he was communicating with them, but they didn't fly away despite all of his sudden movements."

"I see," Jiraiya said. "How about Tobi?"

"Well, Tobi is a special case," Mikoto said. "He lost his parents, which is why he stays with us now. The day he lost his parents, he lost his left eye, which is why he's wearing an eye patch. The doctors suspect that when he lost his eye, he suffered some brain damage, not to mention emotional trauma. They think that at some point before he's a ten he'll stop developing mentally."

"Alright," Tsunade said. "Itachi said something about him making people smile?"

"Yes," Mikoto said. "His presence just makes everyone happy. Itachi's right. Tobi can make everyone smile. It must be his childish charm, because he can indeed make my dear stoic husband smile like a little boy opening presents on his birthday."

"Do you agree, Mr. Uchiha?" Jiraiya asked. Fugaku nodded.

Mikoto nudged Tobi forward. "Go on, Tobi. These two are very nice people."

Little Tobi stepped forward. "Hi," he said shyly. "Tobi is a good boy."

"I forgot to mention," Mikoto said, "He refers to himself in the third person. I think it's due to the brain damage."

"Ah," Tsunade said. "How old is he?"

"Four," Mikoto said.

"And Sasuke?" Tsunade asked.

"Five months."

"Thank you," Tsunade said. "Hello, Tobi. I'm Tsunade, and this big guy next to me is Jiraiya."

Tobi smiled up at them. "Tobi is a good boy! Tobi says hello!"

Tsunade couldn't help but smile, and neither could Jiraiya. Even little Naruto grinned, gurgled, and giggled in her arms.

"Oooooh!" Tobi looked at the little blonde boy. "Tobi wants to know who that is."

"This is Naruto," Tsunade said.

"Naruto?" Fugaku asked. "You're taking care of Minato and Kushina's child?"

"Of course," Jiraiya said. "I'm his godfather, and Tsunade and I are a package deal."

"Does he have a spirit in him?" Fugaku asked.

"Two, actually," Jiraiya said.

"_Two_?!" Mikoto gasped.

"Yes," Commander Sarutobi said, reminding everyone that he was still present. "He holds the spirits of Peace and Hate."

"That must go together well," Fugaku said.

"They do," Tsunade said. "Peace keeps Hate under control. In fact, Peace is generally sociable. Maybe it can tell us which spirits dwell in your children." She looked hopefully at little Naruto. A moment later, Naruto glowed pearly white before the pearl-colored butterfly of energy appeared on him.

"Fugaku, Mikoto, kids, meet the spirit of Peace," Jiraiya said.

"Oooooh! Tobi says pretty! Pretty!" Tobi squealed. He ran forward and tried to touch it, only to find that his little hands passed through it.

Suddenly Itachi coughed so hard that he almost knocked himself over. He wrapped his arms around his chest. "It hurts," he gasped softly.

"The Spirit of Pain has never liked me," the Peace butterfly said.

"Pain?" Jiraiya asked. "The fever symptoms seemed like Illness to me."

"It is Pain," the butterfly said. Fugaku and Mikoto looked at each other in horror.

"Talks! Talks!" Tobi cheered.

"Ah. Happiness," the butterfly said.

"That's not surprising," Tsunade said, looking at the beaming Tobi. "And Sasuke?"

The butterfly was silent for a moment. Then it said, "Wild."

"Wild?" Mikoto asked nervously. "Will it hurt him?"

"No," the butterfly said. "Wild chose him. Unlike Pain. Who gave their life to seal it?"

"What Peace is asking is who died when Itachi was born," Jiraiya translated.

"Oh." Mikoto looked at Fugaku. "Your great-uncle Kagami. He died just a few hours after Itachi was born."

"His soul must have seen Pain and trapped it," the Peace butterfly said.

"You think?" Jiraiya asked.

"Yes," the Peace butterfly said. Then Naruto started crying. "Hm. That fox has woken up. I must go." The butterfly disappeared.

There was a brief silence. Then Fugaku asked, "Did we just have a conversation with a spirit?"

Tsunade and Jiraiya nodded. "You get used to it fast," Jiraiya said.

"Our poor baby has the spirit Pain sealed inside him," Mikoto whispered, drawing Itachi close to her.

"Mommy, I'm ok," Itachi said. "Now that the butterfly is gone, it doesn't hurt so much anymore."

"I'd hate to see what Naruto would be like if he didn't have Peace to balance out Hate," Tsunade said. "It's a good thing you're so strong, Itachi. You can control your spirit."

"How do you know so much about spirits?" Fugaku asked.

"It's a little known fact that the Uzumaki clan is the ultimate source for all things spirit," Jiraiya said. "I didn't know it until the night we lost Minato and Kushina. After that, the Uzumaki's did some explaining, and we got a clearer picture of how the spirits operate."

"I see," Fugaku said. "Why aren't the Uzumakis taking care of this?"

"They're dealing with the spirits that are trying to break through. The break ten years ago was enough to excite the spirits so that the more mischievous and/or destructive ones are trying to find weaknesses in the barrier that separates our world from the spirit," Commander Sarutobi said. "Therefore I tasked my two best soldiers with the difficult job of tracking down the spirits and taking care of their vessels."

"Does that mean we have to give you our children?" Mikoto asked, clutching little Sasuke close to her.

Jiraiya and Tsunade looked at each other. "No," Tsunade answered. "We know where you guys live. We're living in the country in a mansion that acts as home, headquarters, and a training facility. When the kids are old enough, they can spend some time with us learning to fight, but they don't have to live with us permanently."

Mikoto breathed out a sigh of relief. "Thank you."

"No problem," Jiraiya said. "Naruto alone is a handful. I don't know what we'd do with Sasuke, Tobi, and Itachi on top of him."

"Tobi is a good boy!" Tobi said. "Tobi would take care of Sasuke."

"I'm sure you would," Tsunade said. Then she turned to her leader. "Commander?"

"I declare this resolved. We now have only twenty more vessels to locate. I'm sure you and Jiraiya don't want to go trekking all over these war-torn lands with little Naruto," Commander Sarutobi said, nodding to the baby in Tsunade's arms. "I want you to nominate some trackers. They'll be trained by the Uzumakis, and then they'll go out and do the searching, and eventually, when they return home, even the training."

"Alright," Jiraiya said. "We'll think about it." He turned to Itachi and Tobi. "I hope to see you two at our mansion someday when you get older, ok?"

"Tobi is a good boy! Tobi will do as you say," Tobi said.

"Yessir," Itachi said. He sounded too much like a seasoned soldier for Jiraiya's liking, but he decided that it was due to the Pain spirit that was giving the child so much grief.

"You all are dismissed," the commander said. "And I'm sure I don't have to tell you, Fugaku, that the spirit business will stay between us all."

"I wouldn't think otherwise, Commander," Fugaku said.

"Then I'll you later. We need to discuss our plan of attack with Shikaku and the ambassadors," Commander Sarutobi said as the party walked out the door. Tsunade and Jiraiya did not envy the man for filling one their former positions as generals.

"So…who should we nominate to do our tracking for us?" Jiraiya asked Tsunade as they pulled into their garage.

"I was thinking Colonel Kakashi Hatake," Tsunade said. "He's got tracking dogs, and he's the last member of Minato's team."

"Yeah," Jiraiya said. "How about Lieutenant-Colonel Anko Mitarashi? She was one of Orochimaru's students."

"She's a piece of work," Tsunade said as Jiraiya unlocked the house.

"True, but Oro didn't choose her for nothing," Jiraiya said. "Also, how about the Commander's son Asuma? He's a Colonel like Kakashi."

"If we take him, we'd better take his girlfriend," Tsunade said. " Major Kurenai Yuhi. She's not a bad tracker."

"And while we're thinking about it, how about Colonel Gai Maito?" Jiraiya asked. "He's an odd one, but he's fast."

"Hm." Tsunade thought. "That's not a bad idea. I'd recommend Ino-Shika-Cho, but Commander Sarutobi relies on Shikaku for strategic advice. How many do we have now?" Tsunade mixed formula in a bottle for Naruto and put in the microwave.

"Kakashi, Gai, Asuma, Kurenai, and Anko," Jiraiya said. "That's five. Do we need more?"

"We could ask the commander if he can spare Shisui," Tsunade said.

"Shisui as in Shisui Uchiha the little helicopter pilot?" Jiraiya asked.

"He could cover big distances if we get a tip," Tsunade said.

"How about we just ask to have him available?" Jiraiya asked. "That kid is better off running missions for Commander Sarutobi than for us."

"Point," Tsunade said. Naruto started crying. "I know you're hungry, sweetie, but the microwave only works so fast." Naruto pouted and continued crying.

"I know, it's disappointing, isn't it?" Jiraiya said to Naruto. "Don't worry. When you get older, you'll be able to snack, and I'll introduce you to the wonders of ramen."

"Are you going to turn him into a ramen addict like his mother?" Tsunade asked.

"Of course," Jiraiya said. "I promised Minato that I'd bring him up properly, so I'll make sure he tastes his first ramen early."

Tsunade shook her head and took Naruto's bottle out of the microwave. She picked up the little boy and offered it to him. The hungry little boy immediately grabbed onto it with his chubby little hands and drank. "You know, technically you're the godfather. You should be the one doing this," she said.

"You're the godmother," Jiraiya said.

"Says who?" Tsunade asked.

"We're a package deal, remember? You know, it's no wonder everyone who doesn't know us thinks we're married."

Tsunade's face darkened. "You know that my heart belongs only to Dan," she said as memories of her late boyfriend flashed through her mind.

"I know," Jiraiya said. "I may have once thought of you as a romantic option, but you've been my sister for a long time."

"I'm glad," Tsunade said. In her arms, Naruto seemed to sense her unhappiness and stopped drinking his milk to look up at her. "It's ok, Naruto," Tsunade said. "We'll help you get big and strong so that you can help us put an end to this war forever." At this, Naruto giggled and started drinking again.

"It's like he can understand us," Jiraiya said.

"I'll bet somewhere deep in his mind he can," Tsunade said. "You know, I should teach Shizune about medicine."

"That came out of the blue," Jiraiya said as he opened his computer to type up the nominations for trackers.

"I guess," Tsunade said. "I was thinking about Dan, and Shizune's his niece. If anything, I should pay for her to go to school so that she can go into medicine."

"Don't forget to get her opinion too," Jiraiya said as he typed.

"Jiraiya! Are you writing one of those S-rank novels again?" Tsunade asked. "And in front of Naruto, too!"

"I'm typing those nominations," Jiraiya protested. "And Naruto's two months old. He wouldn't understand anyway."

"Maybe not, but if we're going to raise him right, we're going to keep every single orange book that you publish locked away."

"If he grows up to be anything like Kushina, he'll find those and be asking us awkward questions when he's Itachi's age," Jiraiya said.

"All the better reason for you to stop writing them," Tsunade said.

"Hey, those books are a major part of our income!" Jiraiya said defensively.

"Jiraiya, we're both paid the amount a general is paid," Tsunade said. "We have a lot of income without your little novels."

Jiraiya pouted. "I'm not even writing one, and I'm getting yelled at," he said.

* * *

**So the Uchiha family gets three spirits. It's kinda strange, yes, but let's say the spirits can sense who will be a good vessel. Or, in Itachi's case, it was just sealed inside. Who thought that Itachi would end up having Illness? I bet a lot of you thought Pein would get the Pain spirit…**

**Yeah, I don't know what the age difference between Shisui and Itachi is, but for the sake of this story, let's say that he's six years older than him. Yes, he's an eleven year old piloting a helicopter. Hey, if canon Itachi could murder his clan at thirteen and canon Shisui is for sure a renowned and trusted ninja, then this Shisui can be a little freak and fly a helicopter. No, Commander Sarutobi is not out of his mind. It's just wartime, and crazy, adventurous Shisui volunteered.**

**As a side note, yay for Jiraiya-Tsunade-Naruto family time! Please leave feedback, and if you didn't already play the spirit-vessel guessing game, the names are in the last chapter. Until next time!**


End file.
